From 2013 to 2015, WorCover Queensland inspectors conducted nearly 700 assessments on high-risk work involving mobile and operational plant across construction worksites in Queensland. The campaign outcomes, outlined in the report (PDF, 0.74 MB), highlight several areas for improvement in the construction industry. These include refining site management and exclusion zones, enhancing familiarisation training, and actively involving workers in developing comprehensible safe work method statements (SWMS) or work plans. Improvements also involve making documentation more accessible, ensuring specificity of SWMS to the situation, and incorporating higher-order controls like elimination, engineering, and isolation. The effective management of risks on worksites is attributed to robust planning, consultation, and coordination among those involved in the work. Modified audit tools, presented as checklists, are now available for planning and coordinating mobile plant operations on construction sites.
WHSQ inspectors will persist in carrying out proactive inspections on mobile plant at construction worksites. The construction industry page provides a variety of resources, such as films, codes of practice, and other guidance materials. These aim to aid principal contractors, managers, supervisors, and workers in the safe utilization of mobile and operational plant.